Mr. Alex Omotehinseis a human rights activist and leader of the Center for Human and Socio-Economic Rights (CHSR). In this interview he talks about the ongoing #EndBadGovernance protest, why the government should dialogue with protestersinstead of blackmailing them, among other issues. JOY ANIGBOGU brings the excerpts:....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶
What is your view about the hunger protest that began on August 1?
Let me applaud the courageous youths, who took up the mantle to challenge the actors and gladiators in political offices by daring them and for coming out to express their views about the way the country is being governed. I’m sorry for my absence because of my official duties outside the state and I’m watching the way people came out despite the propaganda of the government at all levels. The message is for the government to bow to the will of the people by ensuring that every Nigeria benefits from the dividends of democracy. It doesn’t mean that as a Yorubaman and because a Yorubaman is the President then I must not see anything wrong in whatever he does. It’s not until you share money with individuals that you’re giving the people the dividends of democracy. For instance, the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway has been in a deplorable state for eight years and this is the ninth year and nothing has been done about it. This is part of the demands. The expenses of the government should be curtailed. The minimum wage should cut across all sectors including all political office holders; the President, and the Senators inclusive; they should be paid based on their levels of education the way they pay civil servants. That is the only way the country can move forward. If you continue this monkey is working and the baboon is eating, it won’t work. There was a statement that was reportedly credited to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio where he said at a Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) function that ‘you can continue to protest while we will be eating with President Bola Tinubu.’ That is not encouraging. That means that the leaders don’t even care about the feelings of the people if he truly made such a statement. There are some groups that are springing up, we see some elements threatening traders in Lagos Island that they would deal with them if they come out to protest. These are people the security agents ought to go after, not the peaceful protesters that arm only themselves with placards and solidarity songs. I applaud all the comrades that came out, I appreciate the “Take it back movement,” the Committee for Defence of Human Right (CDHR), CHSR and other civil society groups that joined the protests and I give a big applause to our leaders; Mr Femi Falana and Ebun Adegboruwa for standing firm for the protesters. That showed that people are angry. Even those who were paid money not to come out, came out. I gathered that some hoodlums mobilised themselves to attackprotesters in Ojota, Lagos if not for the policemen that prevented them from doing so. If there’re people they should disperse it’s those who came to disrupt the peaceful protest.
One of the fears of the government was how some hoodlums hijacked the EndSARS protest in 2020 and we know the level of destruction of lives and properties that followed, some people felt that the protesters should have opted for dialoguewith the government, what do you say to this?
The EndSARS protest of 2020 was not hijacked by hoodlums, it was disrupted by government agencies. On October 18, 2020 in Alausa, Lagos, some hoodlums that were equipped with arms and ammunition went to attack the protesters in Alausa. They went in a BRT bus and the picture of one of their leaders was displayed all over the social media. The protesterswere more than the attackers and they overwhelmed the thugs and handed them over to the police, but we didn’t hear anything till today because they were government representatives. The protests continued at Alausa and Lekki Toll Gate. Why we are insisting that the EndSARS protest was not hijacked was because nothing happened in Alausa or Toll Gate. The incidents that took place started from Sunday October 18 with pockets of violence in Ikorodu, Mushin, Orile, Agege and other places. It was not until Tuesday October 20, 2020, when the Governor declared a curfew and military men were dragged in to attack protesters at Lekki Toll Gate that crises started. Those who looted the palace of Oba of Lagos in Lagos Island were hoodlums. They were not at the scene of the protests. Let us be mindful of government propaganda that the EndSARS protests were hijacked. There was no record of violence in Alausa or Lekki except the attack by the military men. The areas where thugs attacked police stations were different from the convergence of protesters. It’s a misgiving, misinformation and misinterpretation to say all these. The people that looted TVC station were not protesters, they were angry youths and thugs. The EndSARS protests were well organised, even activists commend them. We have never organised a protest that would last three or five days, the best we have done is three days. We might say we’re going for 20 days, but we know that it wouldn’t last more than three days. But the EndSARS protesters achieved what has never been achieved by other protesters. In less thanfive days, the government bowed to pressure, they scrapped the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and listened to all their demands. They said that they would address the demands. So, the EndSARS protest of 2020 was not hijacked by hoodlums, it was disrupted by the government agencies through their hired thugs or hoodlums that perpetrated the evil which they are now turning against the EndSARS protesters.
Mr. Ebun Adegboruwa appealed to the protesters to limit the protests to one or three days and we all know that the protests would disrupt economic activities and lead to huge loss, what would you say to this?
I give it to Mr. Ebun Adegboruwa, he is indeed a human rights lawyer. The advice came at the right time as some of us believe that 10 days is not achievable. Based on what happened at the EndSARS protest, the youths can even go beyond 10 days if they have their way, but I think Ebun Adegboruwa felt that the government could sponsor thugs that would pretend to be protesters and cause damages, which would be used against the protesters. So it’s a welcome idea and I support it. If I had my way, I would have preferred that it should be a one day thing, the message has been passed that no matter how far the government goes with propaganda and blackmail the people united can never be defeated. Nigerians would surely air their views, you cannot be beating a child and tell him or her not to cry. A lot of money has been shared by the government to some people that they think can stop the protesters. You can see the turnout, there were protests everywhere, Abuja, Lagos, Port-Harcourt, Osogbo and many other places. Even those who support the government today will realise that they’re not doing the will of their conscience and that they’ve sold their birthright. A tuber of yam now goes for between N7,000 and N11,000. Despite all that the government did, they still went to court to restrict protesters. At the beginning the turnout might be small, it would gather momentum later and you would see that people later came out to join the protests. People now know that the right to freedom lies in your hand and that it is you that would decide either you want to remain permanently in captivity or you want to be free. When you fight you have nothing to lose except shame. What the governmentought to have done is not blackmail but to appeal to the protestersand tell them why they need to dialogue. If you want someone to dialogue with you, you don’t need to blackmailthe person, it is for you to invite him or her that you want to tell the person what you want him or her to know. If you continue toblackmail me and you want to bring me to a round table, then you are instilling fear in me. I watched some faceless groups saying that they are pulling out of protests that they did not organise. We see some guys addressing the press that they were indigenes of Lagos State and telling people not to protest. Even during the military era, we went out to protest. I give kudos to those guys that went on the streets to protest.
The government said President Tinubu has barely spent one year in office and that he should be given more time to work
…That is not a yardstick, as in 2012, former president Good luck Jonathan just spent one year in office, when we did “Occupy Nigeria,” on January 3, 2012. That is my grievance with the opposition parties that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is giving the credit for what they didn’t do. If this protest had been organised by the opposition, we would have given them kudos. But it’s being organised by non-partisan people, those who are not card-carrying members of any party. If it were to be the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or the Labour Party that is in the position, the APC would have been in the forefront to challenge the policies of the government day and night. I know that Mr. Femi Falana and Ebun Adegboruwa are not lawyers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or the Labour Party. If this government is capable you would have known from day one. They announced the total removal of the fuel subsidy on day one. If within one year this government had put some measures in place such as fixing the refineries, then Nigerians would have been happy. Do you realise that within one year, there is inflation on naira rate and inflation on commodities. We’re judging him on the one year.
